Following a string of crimes–including arson, theft and graffiti–reported last week in several Dearborn parks, one more has been added to the list. According to a Dearborn police report, a city-employed grounds safety inspector found burn damage at Freda-Blesser Park in east Dearborn the afternoon of Sept. 2. The inspector said that the park was last inspected Aug. 27, at which point the damage was not seen. According to the report, the plastic tic-tac-toe wheels on the playscape structure at the park had been burned using an unknown method. Police determined that it was unlikely that an …

Local criminals set their sights on several of Dearborn's parks and pools during the past week, according to reports filed with the Dearborn Police Department. On Aug. 28, an employee of Ford Woods Park came in at 11:30 a.m. to find that the pool house had been broken into and $40 had been stolen, according to a report filed. The employee verified that the pool house had been locked and secured at 7:30 p.m. the previous night. But that morning, he said, the main door to the pool house was open and the chain lock had been removed. Also on Aug. 28, an employee of Levagood Park reported that he …

Three separate reports about car thefts were made in Dearborn over the last week–all of them on Aug. 18 or 19, according to Dearborn police. A Saline resident and Ford Motor Company employee reported that between 12-5 p.m. Aug. 18, his 2001 Dodge Intrepid was stolen from the parking lot of the Ford offices at 6000 Mercury Drive. The man said that his car was parked in the lot outside of the offices, and when he returned at 5 p.m., the car was gone. There was nothing significant inside, the car owner said, and it was taken without the keys, which were still in his possession. A second vehicle …

Dearborn’s work van owners just can’t catch a break from thieves. In the latest chapter of their crime story, a white 2003 Ford E-250 panel van was stolen from its owner’s driveway on the 5100 block of Orchard Avenue, according to Dearborn Police reports. The owner parked the vehicle–filled with construction equipment–in his driveway around 1 a.m. Friday, the report said. By the time he returned to the van at 8:30 a.m., it was gone. The owner added that no one had permission to use the van and that he had its only set of keys, according to the report. The crime is the latest in a string of …

Thieves targeted four unoccupied houses in Dearborn last week, stealing copper piping out of three and construction equipment out of the fourth, according to Dearborn police reports. Officers responded to a call from the 6600 block of Appoline Street July 15 regarding stolen copper pipe from the victim’s basement, the report said. While the resident had moved out of the Appoline residence a week prior, he frequented the house daily to prepare it for sale, he said. The responding officer saw no signs of forced entry in the home, but he did locate an unlocked window on the north side of the …

Only days after a 2003 Ford Econoline van was stolen on the 7600 block of Manor Street, two more vans were taken in Dearborn. A white 2003 Ford Econoline van was taken on June 23 from its 29-year-old owner’s driveway, according to a Dearborn police report. The theft occurred between 1:30 and 9 a.m. on the 13000 block of S. Morrow Circle.  The van’s owner–an electrician–said he used the vehicle for work, adding that there was about $10,000 worth of tools and copper piping in the van’s rear. “IB Electric,” the owner’s employer, is written on the sides of the van, he said. The victim had the …

A laptop was stolen from its owner’s living room on the 7200 block of Neckel Street Saturday while the owner’s wife and mother were in the house, a Dearborn police report said.  The computer, a MacBook Pro, sat on the victim’s living room couch before it was taken between 3 and 7 p.m., the report said.  The victim valued the computer at $1,200. The victim’s wife and mother were in the house’s main floor bedroom at the time of the burglary, the report said. While both said they didn’t see or hear anyone in the house that afternoon, they agreed the only unsecured point of entry was the home’s …

The 6600 block of Steadman Street was a pretty dangerous place this weekend–for lawn and garden tools.  A Honda lawn mower and electric weed wacker were stolen from their owner’s garage between 1 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday, according to a Dearborn Police report. The two items were worth around $375, the victim said.  The door handle and lock on the side door of the victim’s garage were not attached properly, he said. He believes the thieves gained entry through the opening. But that’s not all. Another theft occurred on the same block Sunday, when a Honda lawn mower, Craftsman edger and red, …

An attempted break-in to a Dearborn business ended before entry was made for reasons unknown. The manager of Auto Repair Unlimited, located at 7400 Greenfield Road, reported to Dearborn police that the door handle and two windows of the business were broken in an attempted burglary. The incident happened while the business was closed, between 5:50 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday, the manager said. The manager said it appeared no entry was made into the building, and no items were missing, according to the police report. He also said he received no phone calls from the security company that …

A Dearborn police officer caught a resident with a large amount of illegal fireworks in his car Friday night. The officer was on patrol near Hemlock Park at 7:20 a.m. when he saw a Ford F-150 roll through a stop sign at the intersection of Hemlock and Jonathon. The officer pulled over the truck, and when he approached the driver's side window, he noticed several bottle rockets lying on the floor behind the driver's seat. The officer asked the driver if he had anything illegal in the car and the man replied that he had fireworks in his backseat. A search of the car revealed that the man had …

Flower Baskets Taken A resident of the 2000 block of Elizabeth reported to Dearborn police that someone stole three metal flower basket stands and the flowers inside them from outside of her home. The homeowner said the incident happened between 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. on June 11, while she was at work. There were no suspects, nor did any neighbors report seeing anything suspicious. Door Broken, But No Theft A resident of the 6100 block of Yinger reported a possible home break-in on June 10–however, he doesn’t think anyone actually entered his home. According to the homeowner, he was away …

Police responded to a call last Saturday afternoon of a dog left in a car outside of Dearborn’s Kowloon Chinese Restaurant. The caller, a Dearborn resident, told police that there was a dog locked inside a car with the windows rolled up. When police arrived, several people were outside the restaurant observing the scene–including the dog’s owner, who had come to let the 9-year-old female beagle out after the woman who called found him in the restaurant. The man, a resident of Jackson, Mich., who was there with two other adults, told police that he didn’t think he was doing anything wrong. He …

The owner of a home in the 5400 block of Argyle reported a break-in that happened between 2-4:30 p.m. May 27. According to the resident, while the residents were out of the house, someone stole a diamond ring worth $700 from her upstairs bedroom, plus an unknown amount of cash. The homeowner said she left the home briefly and came back to find that her bedroom had been ransacked. The dresser and drawers were thrown on the ground, plus jewelry containers and their contents were strewn about. The only piece of jewelry that was missing, however, was the ring, which had been sitting on top of the…

According to Dearborn police reports, one local thief has a serious sweet tooth. The driver of a semi-truck who had parked his trailer at Truck City in south Dearborn the morning of May 28 called police the next night to report it as stolen. The contents? Forty-three thousand pounds of Nestle candy locked in an all-white refrigerated unit in the trailer. According to the driver, he parked the truck and trailer in the parking lot of the trucking company at 11 a.m. Saturday morning. When he returned at 6:30 p.m. Sunday evening, the trailer was missing. The security manager of Truck City said …

Home, School Break-Ins Four break-ins were reported in the past week in Dearborn–three at residences and one at the Dearborn Academy school. An administrator of Dearborn Academy reported to Dearborn police that there appeared to be foul play after hours at the school between 4:45 p.m. May 19 and 6:30 a.m. May 20. Though there were no signs of forced entry and both doors were locked with alarms set, two school-issued laptops had been taken from classrooms and placed in a backpack, and then were moved to a chair in another classroom. One of the teachers in the disrupted classrooms said she …

A rash of car break-ins took place during the past week throughout the City of Dearborn, with most appearing to be unrelated. Some cars had no items stolen, while other owners reported thousands of dollars in thefts. A resident of the 5900 block of Oakman reported that the passenger door window of his Honda Odyssey was broken out between 10 p.m. May 12 and 12:30 p.m. May 13 while the vehicle was parked in front of his home. The owner said his glove box and center armrest had been rummaged through, and that a cardboard box filled with 36 bags of loose premium tobacco had been stolen from his …

Bar Targeted in the Heat of the Night Two standup propane heaters and three kegs of beer were stolen May 6 from Oakwood Bar & Grill, 17621 Oakwood. A bar employee said the heaters were stored on an open patio and the kegs were stashed inside the building, near the kitchen. It's believed the thief used a ladder to climb on the roof of the business in an attempt to also steal two air conditioning units. The units were damaged, but remained intact. $50 of Copper Plumbing Stolen from House A bedroom window was pried open on a house in the 3300 block of Salina on May 6. About $50 worth of copper …

12-Year-Old Reports Stolen Bike A 12-year-old resident of the 6000 block of Maple was playing with friends near the corner of Calhoun and Alber around 3:30 p.m. on April 30 when his bike was stolen, he told Dearborn police. According to a report, the boy said he left his bike sitting unattended at the corner while he played with friends. When he looked up, he saw one boy on his bike and another on a bike next to him. The owner of the bike yelled at them, but they rode off. The boy said he recognized one of the boys: a 12-year-old who goes to Lowrey Middle School. Police searched the area, but…

Three Dearborn, Heights Residents Arrested for Mortgage Fraud On Thursday, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy charged two Dearborn residents and one Dearborn Heights resident in connection with an alleged real estate flipping scheme that involved properties located in Detroit, Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, and small business loan fraud that took place from 2004 and continued over a period of four years. Samer Zahr, 37, his wife, Chirine Ghandour, 29, of Dearborn and Zahr’s mother, Rajaa Zahr, 53, of Dearborn Heights were discovered through an investigation that took place under the Wayne …

Nacho Chips Stolen from Van A resident of Kentwood, MI parked his van at Metro Storage on Wyoming overnight on April 7. When he came back the morning of April 8, he saw that both front windows had been smashed and four boxes of nacho chips were missing from the van. A poor-quality surveillance video provided by the storage center showed police how two unknown men parked a vehicle along the lot's fence just after 10 p.m. on April 7. The men jumped the fence and tried to break into storage units, but were unsuccessful. Next, they could be seen on the video breaking into the van and driving away…